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Reading Questions #6: Miracles and Pragmatic Justifications
Philosophy of Religion
Dr. McCormick
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Turn in only the answer sheet above.
Miracles and Pragmatic Justifications
1. When Hume says, "In all cases, we must balance the opposite experiments, where they are opposite, and deduct the smaller number from the greater, in order to know the exact force of the superior evidence." (262) he means,
A. It is always reasonable to believe the evidence that is deducted from the evidence for the opposing view.
B. It is never reasonable to believe a proposition that has contrary evidence.
C. We must weigh the evidence in order to know which is stronger.
D. No position is reasonable until some evidence for the alternative has been acquired.
2. On the whole, which thesis is Hume arguing for?
A. The evidence in favor of testimony that a miracle occurred will never be superior to the evidence that the testimony is wrong.
B. It is only reasonable to believe testimony that a miracle occurred if it is likely that the testimony is mistaken.
C. It is never reasonable to believe that miracles occur.
D. It is always reasonable to believe that a miracle has occurred if you have substantial evidence in favor of it.
3. What would it take to prove a miracle, according to Hume?
A. an honest, reliable, and reasonable person testifies that one occurred.
B. Widespread agreement among all people in all countries that the same miraculous event occurred.
C. Many people believe that they occur.
D. Proof that the alleged miracle was not a deception.
4. Hume defines a miracle as,
A. a violation of the laws of nature.
B. an event that defies our idea of how nature should behave typically.
C. a fortuitous and unusual event.
D. an exceedingly rare occurrence, viewed only by a few.
5. In order to be believable, testimony that an unusual event occurred must be,
A. stronger in proportion to its unusualness.
B. reliable to be believed.
C. weaker in reverse proportion to the unusualness of the event.
D. stronger depending on who witnessed it.
6. Hume says, "That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavors to establish." This means,
A. If it was more likely that testimony that a miracle occurred is mistaken, then we should believe it.
B. If miracle testimony is exceedingly reliable, then we should believe it.
C. If it is more unlikely for the testimony to be false than for the miracle to occur, then we should believe that a miracle occurred.
D. If it is less likely that the testimony is true than the miracle occurred, then we should believe that a miracle occurred.
7. According to Hume,
A. humans find the idea of miracles occurring emotionally appealing and attractive.
B. humans are frightened and averse to the idea of extraordinary events occurred.
C. humans have a natural distaste for stories about the rare and extraordinary.
D. humans are naturally inclined to tell the truth about extraordinary events.
8. According to Hume,
A. there is finite testimony for and against miracles.
B. there is an infinite amount of counter evidence for any miracle testimony.
C. there is an infinite amount of testimony in favor of the occurrence of miracles.
D. there is an infinite amount of testimony in favor of miracles and an infinite amount against.
9. If Hume himself told you that he saw a miracle, you should:
A. believe him.
B. disbelieve him.
C. check to see if he's lying.
D. conclude that he's delusional.
10. According to Pascal,
A. God's existence and nature can be known through the light of reason.
B. We must believe in God, but we cannot know God.
C. The existence of the infinite and the existence of God are known to us.
D. Neither God's existence nor God's nature can be known through our reason.
E. We can know the existence, but not the specific properties of God.
11. On Pascal's view, believing can only result in:
A. losing your will, but gaining infinite reward.
B. gaining all or losing nothing.
C. losing your happiness, but gaining the truth.
D. gaining happiness, but losing truth.
E. gaining truth and gaining happiness.
12. Pascal says, "you must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked." He means,
A. We stand to benefit by believing in God.
B. The only way to avoid believing in God is to gamble on the chance of eternal loss.
C. No one can escape the choice between believing or failing to believe in God.
D. Reason compels us to recognize proof for God's existence.
13. When Pascal says, "But there is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain," he is referring to,
A. heaven.
B. the chance of receiving God's blessing.
C. the rich reward of a Christian life.
D. the intellectual satisfaction of believing in accordance with reason.
14. When Pascal says, "And so our proposition is of infinite force, when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal risks of gain and loss, and the infinite to gain," he means,
A. There is an infinite loss at risk for the believer who believes by reason.
B. Pascal's argument is infinitely compelling because reason dictates belief.
C. There are infinite risks in renouncing reason and believing in God.
D. We are infinitely compelled to wager on God because there is so much to gain.
15. "Learn of those who have been bound like you, and who now stake all their possessions.. . . Follow the way by which they began; by acting as if they believe, taking the holy water, having masses said." means,
A. The route to belief, when reason fails, is to go through the motions and act as if you believe.
B. Surrounding yourself with disbelievers will make belief easier.
C. Believers can give you reasons for belief.
D. Surrounding yourself with believers will make belief more difficult.
16. Clifford illustrates the duty to believe truths with a story about a:
A. ship owner who suspects that his ship is failing, but sends it to sea anyway.
B. ship owner who does not know the state of his ship, and sends it to sea.
C. ship owner who saves people on an island.
D. ship owner whose deceptions result in the destruction of his ship by pirates.
17. Clifford's motto is best summed as:
A. Believe whatever you have no evidence against.
B. Avoid falsehoods at all costs.
C. It is always wrong to believe on the basis of insufficient evidence.
D. If you don't know about it, you cannot be held responsible for it.
E. Believe whatever your evidence supports.
18. Clifford argues that,
A. no amount of good results can change a bad decision that we made in insufficient evidence.
B. It is usually wrong to believe on the basis of weak evidence, unless the outcome is good overall.
C. a bad decision can be compensated for by good results.
D. Good, well-founded conclusions can sometimes come from faulty reasoning.
19. Clifford concludes that if a person does not have the time or energy to investigate the evidence for a belief,
A. then they can take other people's claims as support.
B. then they should be cautious about believing.
C. then they can believe as long as it does not harm anyone.
D. then they should not believe.
20. The weirdest thing I ever saw was _______